Larry Sanders blocks a shot by Sebastian Telfair of the Phoenix Suns during a game last February. The Bucks are hoping for big contributions from Sanders and others on their front line.

Brookfield - Small ball didn't work so well for the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of last season.

Missing center Andrew Bogut, who was traded to Golden State after suffering a season-ending ankle injury, the Bucks struggled to stop an unending layup line by opposing teams.

But off-season steps have been taken to improve the Bucks' interior defense, including the drafting of 6-foot-11 power forward John Henson and the additions of veteran centers Samuel Dalembert and Joel Przybilla.

Now coach Scott Skiles will have a new-look front line when training camp opens next week.

"We were just too small," Skiles said in an interview during the Bucks' annual golf outing Monday at Westmoor Country Club. "We added some length around the rim. Now it's just a matter of trying to put it all together."

When Bogut fractured his left ankle in Houston on Jan. 25, the Bucks' defense suffered a body blow.

And it never recovered even though a much-improved offense kept the team in the Eastern Conference playoff chase until the final weeks of the season.

"I think we're going to be OK scoring the ball," Skiles said. "We've got to get better on the defensive end. We can't have the nightly layup drill that was going on. The guys know it, too. We've got to do it; we can't talk about it.

"We've got to become a top-10 defensive team. And if we can score the ball at any sort of a similar rate, we're going to have a very, very good year.

"I've never coached a team when it (defense) isn't a focus. And most of the teams I've coached have been good defensive teams. It was hard to explain. We work on it all the time. For whatever reason, we had great difficulty stopping anybody, and that hurt us a lot."

The Bucks ranked 22nd in opponents' points per game (98.7) and 16th in opponents field goal percentage (44.9%).

The hope is the return to health of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who underwent right patella tendon surgery in May, and the additions on the front line will greatly improve the defense.

At power forward the Bucks can boast the return of 6-foot-10 Ersan Ilyasova, who finished second in the league's most improved player balloting; along with Drew Gooden and Ekpe Udoh. The 6-foot-10 Gooden had to slide over to the center spot when Bogut was injured and rarely played his true position last season.

Henson, the former North Carolina star, and 6-foot-11 Larry Sanders can play both power forward and center, depending on matchups. Second-year player Tobias Harris, at 6-feet-8-inches, will be at small forward and vying for increased playing time. And Dalembert and Przybilla are true centers.

"On paper right now we appear to have a lot of bigs," Skiles said. "We do have a lot of bigs. One reason we like a couple of our bigs is they can guard smalls.

"We've got to take a look at it. We've got some good competition right now. We've got some length and that's such a big factor in every NBA game. We'll see what shape everybody's in, let some guys battle for spots and see what plays out."

The Bucks are one week away from the opening of training camp with media day on Monday and the first official practice Oct. 2 at the Cousins Center.